Knock Down, Drag Out / Book One

Chapter Two

Maddox stared at the small woman sitting stoically in front of him and tried not to imagine what kind of terror she was facing in her mind.

The first glimpse he had caught of her over his shoulder had left him intrigued by the way she carried herself. Standing tall in all of her barely 5'1 height with her black hair cascading down her back, she looked like she could take on the world. Looking into her sapphire blue eyes now, he could see that she was tired of facing monsters hell bent on destroying her.

"Darcy, get up." Maddox's gaze shifted from the woman in front of him to her identical copy, the only difference between them being the freckles spattered across Darcy's nose like small constellations.

"You can't sit there all day and I know you don't want to be carried, but I'll give Maddox full permission to act like a caveman if you don't get up."

Damion met his gaze over the top of Darcy's head and gave a small shrug before standing up and grabbing Lylah's hand. "Come on. We're going to my apartment until Elijah and Stanford confirm your house is unsafe."

Lylah sent a look to her twin as she walked out of the office door and let out a sigh before nodding to Maddox. He didn't typically wait for permission to do anything he thought was right but he had hoped that she could convince Darcy to get up on her own.

He stood up from his crouch and grabbed Darcy under her arms, hauling her up until her feet were barely brushing the floor. "Over the shoulder it is." Maddox huffed, lifting her body until her stomach was pressed into his shoulder and wrapping his arm around her thighs to keep her in place.

She hung there like a rag doll as he strode out behind Damion and Lylah, ignoring the looks from other fighters that had come to train and the way Charlie raised her eyebrow them.

He nodded at Damion when he held the door open for them and made short work of walking to his truck, depositing Darcy gently in the passenger seat before slamming the door.

"Maddox!" He looked over at Lylah, walking towards her when she waved him over. A backwards glance at his truck showed him Darcy was slowly buckling herself in and he gave Lylah his full attention.

"Darcy's been held at gun point by an angry father who thought she hadn't tried hard enough to save his son and didn't even bat an eyelash. She doesn't scare easy, but this has her terrified. Don't give her any more of a reason to shut down."

Maddox looked over the pale green scrubs Lylah wore, wrinkled and covered in dark stains due to God knows what. "What do the two of you do, exactly?"

Lylah grinned at him and reached back to tighten her ponytail. "We're doctors. Darcy specializes in trauma work and surgery and I'm a pediatric neurosurgeon."

Damion looked over the small woman beside him with a new respect in his eyes and Maddox couldn't blame him. Not many people could be doctors, the stress and anxiety that came with hoping you were doing the right thing enough to make him shudder just thinking about it.

Maddox frowned and crossed his arms over his chest when he realized that both Darcy and Lylah looked a little young to be responsible for the lives of others. "How old are you?" Lylah let out a long suffering sigh that told him she had been asked that question more times than she wanted to answer it.

"We're twenty-five. Darcy is older by ten minutes, and she never lets me forget it. We both got accepted into med school at sixteen with full ride scholarships, and yes, that means we're really smart. Low-range genius level last time we tested. Does that answer most of your questions?"

Maddox fought his grin at her snippy tone and lost the battle when he glanced at Damion, the other man's mouth gaping like a fish while he stared at Lylah. "Go with Damion. My brother is a cop and went with Elijah and Stanford to check your house. He should call back soon and we'll figure out a game plan once he does."